


leave them naked

by thefudge



Category: The Witcher (TV), Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types
Genre: Emotionally Repressed, F/F, Hate to Love, Mentor/Protégé, Slow Burn, Teacher-Student Relationship, ost: her sweet kiss (jaskier was actually singing about these lesbians)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-10
Updated: 2020-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:20:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23088445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thefudge/pseuds/thefudge
Summary: 1x05. The scene between Tissaia and Yennefer in the latter's bedroom, except gayer.
Relationships: Tissaia de Vries/Yennefer z Vengerbergu | Yennefer of Vengerberg
Comments: 16
Kudos: 115





	leave them naked

**Author's Note:**

> these two = exquisite torture

She's always bad news  
It's always lose, lose

But the story is this  
She'll destroy with her sweet kiss

***

Yen has never known distance like this.

Tissaia sits rigidly on the edge of the ottoman, close enough for her to breathe in the scent of rosemary, but far enough to remind her of the well-practiced strictures of school. 

The Rectoress is formidable in her green viper dress, even as she is diminished.

Yen pretends not to listen to her words, as she runs the brush over her lips.

Until Tissaia has to snatch it away.

The woman's prickly fingers reach forward and pluck the red brush, holding it in front of Yen's eyes. 

"You are still as greedy as when I took you in my home," she remarks wryly, as with her other hand she turns Yennefer's chin towards her.

The woman she has become -bold and confident and unchecked - stands still and lets the old mistress poke at her. 

"Your lips are the pink of rose apples," Tissaia says softly, like yarn unraveling. "A dead, elusive pink. Flesh made veil." 

She swipes her thumb gently over Yennefer's lower lip and a trace of magic and pressure makes the red paint fade away. "You should leave them naked." 

Yen can't help the shiver that runs down her magicked spine.

She hates Tissaia deeply for the spell she is weaving. 

Her schoolmistress wipes her upper lip. Her lips are bare and young and deadly. Tissaia smiles sadly, more afflicted than she lets on. 

Yen shifts closer to her, skirts rustling. Distance like this is unbearable. She has had so many bodies, she's had to turn away so many hungry touches. Why is she always denied what she wants?

Tissaia looks at her prodigy. She takes her in - the newly made vixen - still a child in so many ways. Perhaps that is why she yearns for children of her own. A mirror of her inescapable innocence. 

Yen parts her lips, licks them.

"Happy now?" she taunts, voice less sure than she hoped. 

Tissaia cocks her head. "I'm never happy with you, my sweet. It's what keeps me alive." 

Yen could laugh and cry. _Teach me how to make others feel this way_ , she wants to say. But she _knows_ how to make others feel this way. It's Tissaia de Vries she cannot convince. Or seduce. 

The older woman leans forward and Yennefer's heart stutters for a moment.

Tissaia speaks almost against her lips. "The other night, I thought I heard you in my sleep, crying out. Aretuza seemed to howl with your pleasure and pain."

Yen swallows thickly. She mustn't - mustn't give in. Must remain stony and unmoved. But she remembers _that_ night. Searching within her for a balm, touching herself, thinking of the viper's dress on the floor -

"It was just a dream," she speaks angrily. " _Your_ dream. You shouldn't have bothered to visit." 

Tissaia's smile is brittle. "That is not why I have come. But if you will not listen to my warnings about the Brotherhood, perhaps you will lend your ear to dreams." 

_Lend your ear to dreams_ , a second voice whispers in her mind, and Yen sinks her nails in her palm. 

"I have no patience for dreaming. What I want, I make a reality."

Tissaia raises a gentle eyebrow. "Yes. And after you have made it real, you do not want it anymore. Better to work and yearn and never fulfill your heart's desire. You still have much to learn." 

Yen wants to scream. _You want me to long for you forever. You're a greedy, jealous bitch, and I want you gone._

Tissaia moves away before Yen has time to reject her. She rises from the ottoman and goes to sit on her canopy bed. 

Yennefer has to bite her naked lip. 

Distance like this is cruel magic. It is the Rectoress' greatest weapon. 

Yen tries to smile. "I'm a quick study, as you know."

Tissaia nods, face serene, devoid of her previous, shameless persuasion. "Indeed. Quick...much too quick." 

She leans against the bedpost, coldly inviting. 

Yen turns towards the mirror. Picks up the brush once again. Slathers her lips in red. Covers them chastely. 

Tissaia is gone wit a soft, wry sigh. 

Yennefer stares at the absence. Her heart is slack again. She clenches the brush until it breaks in her fist.

_Rose apples, dead elusive pink..._

She calls for the maid sharply.

She will have apple juice tonight. And she will drink every last drop. 


End file.
